Weather and Traffic

Police: Crane accident in Palm Beach causes $10,000 in damage

A Comcast cable line that was severed by a crane last week. (Courtesy of the Town of Palm Beach)

Posted: 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 08, 2017

A crane operator who forgot to lower part of the machine crashed through an intersection last week, knocking down a large tree limb and a fiber optic Comcast cable that served nearby businesses, according to a police report.

About 7 a.m. Thursday, an officer noticed a downed line at Royal Poinciana Way and Cocoanut Row was blocking the intersection. This prompted the town to close the eastbound lane on the Flagler Memorial Bridge from about 7 to 7:30 a.m. while Comcast workers, landscapers and Public Works employees worked to repair the damage.

A maintenance worker for the Royal Poinciana Plaza saw a crane, with an extended boom, drive through the plaza hitting trees early in the morning, according to the police report. The crane left the plaza heading east on Royal Poinciana Way, severing the utility line and hitting a traffic signal pole, the report said.

The wreck caused about $10,000 in damage, a Comcast representative estimated. The damaged line was expected to be a quick fix but crews later realized the damage was more extensive, according to an alert sent by the town Thursday.

Nearby businesses went without phones, WiFi and servers for about 12 hours, said town engineer Patricia Strayer. By the next day, everything was repaired, she said.

Officers later learned that Allegiance Crane had been hired to lift an exhaust fan onto a plaza building that morning and spoke with the crane operator.

The employee told police he had driven the truck but forgotten to lower the boom because he was tired, according to the report. The operator told police that while he was driving away, he “felt the raised boom sway above the truck” and then lowered the crane before driving west over the Flagler bridge.

Town surveillance cameras confirmed the account, according to the report. The crane operator was issued citations for careless driving and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in property damage.

Popular in News

1

2

3

Reader Comments
...

Next Up in Local News

Most interior designers don’t begin a project by picking a name at random. But the method presented an interesting challenge for the eight designers exhibiting in “Art & Decor” at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County in Lake Worth. West Palm Beach interior designer Gil Walsh, a member of the council’s board, selected...

A proposal to demolish and rebuild Duck’s Nest, a historic Palm Beach home, was postponed another month by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Wednesday. The proposal to reconstruct Duck’s Nest, the second-oldest home in Palm Beach, was originally brought before the commission in December. The decision was put on hold after a commission...

The line reached 50 people before 10 a.m. had arrived, so Hoda Kotb started early. She spoke with each person patiently waiting to meet her, each holding her book in their hands, talking and laughing with them for about two hours. “(Palm Beach) feels partly like home to me,” Kotb said. “So coming here for a book signing was the most...

An investment group that includes an owner of the still-unfinished Palm House hotel-condominium on Royal Palm Way is preparing to make an offer soon to buy the beleaguered development, an attorney has told the Daily News. “We’re hoping that we will have a viable purchase offer” by the end of the month, C. Brooks Ricca, of...

Tuesday’s Town Council meeting will mark a changing of the guard with newly elected member Lew Crampton taking the seat held by Richard Kleid, who is retiring after 13 years on the board. The council also will elect a chairperson to preside over meetings during the coming year. First, the council must adopt a resolution formally declaring the...